
GFR
Global
Flashpoints
Roundtable
29 October 2025
THE METROPOLITAN CLUB
NEW YORK CITY
Distinguished Leaders & Speakers
We have been fortunate to learn from some of the world’s greatest leaders in foreign affairs and business at the Global Flashpoints Roundtable over the past several years. The caliber and prominence of our chairs and featured speakers are one of the many ways the Roundtable stands apart from traditional conferences. We look forward to the unique insights and perspectives our distinguished guests will share this year.

LTG H.R. McMaster (Ret.)*
Former White House National Security Advisor

Hon. Kay Bailey Hutchison*
US Representative to NATO, 2017-21; US Senator from Texas, 1993-2013

Barry Sternlicht*
Founder of Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide and Starwood Capital Group

Alondra Nelson
Former Director, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy

Brad Raffensperger
Georgia Secretary of State

Sen. Joe Manchin
Senator from West Virginia

Dame Karen Pierce
UK Ambassador to the United States

Sen. George Mitchell
Former US Senate Majority Leader and Peace Negotiator

Sir Julian King
UK European Commissioner, 2016-19

Gunnar Wiegand
Managing Director for Asia-Pacific, European External Action Service, 2016-23

Hon. Yeo Han-Koo
South Korea Minister of Trade, 2021-22

Reince Priebus
Former White House Chief of Staff

Olexandr Dnylyuk
Former National Security Secretary and Minister of Finance, Ukraine

Sen. Saxby Chambliss
Former Ranking Member of Senate Select Committee on Intelligence

KT zu Guttenberg
Former German Minister of Defense and Minister of Economics and Technology

Rep. Austin Scott
US Representative from Georgia

Gen. Glen VanHerck
Commander, NORTHCOM and NORAD, 2020-24

James Baker
Director, Office of Net Assessment, US Department of Defense

Amb. Max Baucus
US Ambassador to China, 2014-17; Senator from Montana, 1978-2014

Kevin Rudd
Former Prime Minister of Australia
About
The world has changed dramatically in the last several years, and the challenges we face today are more numerous and complicated than they have been in generations. Shifting political, economic, social, and public health forces have created an international business environment that is unfamiliar and unpredictable.
Today, it is not only governments that must develop strategies to safeguard their global interests. Because their influence and control of resources is greater than in any other period in history, firms must have domestic and foreign policies as well.
In crafting their policies, CEOs and heads of state must make decisions that could have repercussions for years to come. They need counsel, based on accurate, actionable intelligence, from trusted senior advisors to understand dynamic geopolitical factors, many of which affect business and government equally.
Ergo, a leading global intelligence and advisory firm, has been providing bespoke access to critical information and this generation’s greatest strategic thinkers to the world’s leading companies and governments for nearly two decades. Once a year, we bring together these unique assets—our intelligence, our experts, and our clients—for a one-of-a-kind private working group on the issues and individuals who matter most.
Modeled on and leveraging the success of our previous events, Ergo’s 2025 Global Flashpoints Roundtable will be an exclusive, invitation-only session open only to the most influential leaders of the world’s most powerful companies and consequential government bodies. This intimate, off-the-record gathering will be limited to approximately 200 top executives of the largest corporations, banks, and investment firms, as well as to a handful of current and former officials from the highest ranks of the U.S. and other governments.
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2025 Agenda
7:15-8:00am
Breakfast and Registration
8:00-8:10am
Opening Remarks
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R.P. Eddy, CEO, Ergo
8:10-8:55am
Transatlantic Tremors: Europe’s Security Reckoning
NATO’s role is more in question today than at any point in the 76 years of the alliance. With the war in Ukraine still ongoing and multiple threats looming from the east, how will the US and Europe’s burden-sharing arrangement shift? Will the next iteration of the transatlantic security architecture effectively safeguard the West?​
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Carl Bildt, Former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sweden; Co-Chair, European Council on Foreign Relations
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Gen. Christopher Cavoli, Commander, US European Command and Supreme Allied Commander Europe, 2022-25
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Oleksandr Kubrakov, Ukrainian Minister of Infrastructure, 2021-24
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Amb. Julianne Smith, US Permanent Representative to NATO, 2021-24
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Amb. Paula Dobriansky, US Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs, 2001-09
9:00-9:40am
AI Beyond LLMs: From Prompts to Productivity
Large language models have broken through as the usable, scaleable, and commercially viable core of today's Generative AI. But the frontier is already shifting—to systems that see, reason, and act in ways that transcend text. What AI applications, in what industries, will create the most economic value by 2028?
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Jonathan Frankle, Chief AI Scientist, Databricks
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Dr. John Tang, Founder & CEO, Vertex Edge
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Josh Wolfe, Co-Founder, Lux Capital
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Alex Czarnecki, Director of Analysis, Ergo
9:45-10:30am
The Two Body Problem: Playing to Win on China
Pres. Trump is on his way to Seoul for the most difficult and consequential negotiation of his second term so far. With Xi projecting new confidence in China’s geoeconomic leverage, how will the US calibrate its strategy across trade, tech, defense, and AI?​
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Jonathan Czin, China Director, US National Security Council, 2021-23
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Jimmy Goodrich, Senior Advisor for Technology Analysis, RAND; Former VP for Global Policy, Semiconductor Industry Association
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Adm. Mark Montgomery, Director of Operations, US Pacific Command, 2014-17; Policy Director, Senate Armed Services Committee, 2017-18
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Matthew Cronin, Senior National Security Advisor, Andreessen Horowitz; Former Chief Investigative Counsel, U.S. House Select Committee on Strategic Competition between the U.S. and China
10:30-10:50am
BREAK
10:50-11:25am
Elephant in the Room: The GOP’s Power Playbook
The Republican Party notched a sweeping electoral victory and reshaped the machinery of government in its first year back in power. What foreign and domestic priorities will Congress pursue as the midterm clock begins to tick?​
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Rep. Kevin Brady, Chair, House Ways and Means Committee, 2019-23; US Representative from Texas, 1997-2023; Senior Consultant, Akin
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Sen. Lindsey Graham, Chair, Senate Budget Committee; US Senator from South Carolina, 2003-
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John Isakson, CEO, ARK Homes for Rent
11:30-12:15pm
Arabian Lights: Seizing the Middle East’s Moment
2025 has been a year of breakthroughs in the Middle East: a ceasefire in Israel, a weakened Iran, and a new dawn in Syria. What will the administration do next to capitalize on this opportunity for regional prosperity?
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Amb. Thomas J. Barrack
US Ambassador to Türkiye; US Special Envoy for Syria
>> in conversation with R.P. Eddy, CEO, Ergo
12:20-12:50pm
Making America Grow Again: Building the Trump Economy
US economic growth is proving stronger than many expected in 2025. What will Trump do as he attempts to maintain US outperformance?​
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Larry Kudlow, Director, National Economic Council, 2018-21
12:55-2:05pm
LUNCH
Recognition of Service
Pres. Tsai Ing-Wen, President, Republic of China (Taiwan), 2016-24
>> Doug Beck, Director, Defense Innovation Unit, 2023-2025; Vice President, Apple, 2009-2023
2:15-2:55pm
Inside the Situation Room: Guiding the President through a Geopolitical Supercycle
Two recent National Security Advisors to the current and former president will forecast how Pres. Trump and his current advisors will act. What is the path forward on critical US national security priority areas—with adversaries and allies alike.​
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Jake Sullivan, White House National Security Advisor to Pres. Biden, 2021-25
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H.R. McMaster, White House National Security Advisor to Pres. Trump, 2017-18; Chair, Ergo Flashpoints Forum
3:00-3:40pm
Trump’s Trade Secrets: Anticipating the Next Tariff Shocks
In ten short months, Pres. Trump has redrawn the map of global trade. How will his tariff architecture evolve over the next year?​
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Jeff Gerrish, Deputy US Trade Representative, 2018-20
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Nazak Nikakhtar, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Analysis, Acting Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, 2018-21
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Kelly Ann Shaw, Deputy Assistant to the President for International Economics, 2018-19
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Daniel Oestericher, Associate Director for US Policy Analysis, Ergo
3:45-4:30pm
A Time to Build: The Race to Reindustrialize
The US is racing to rebuild what decades of globalization have hollowed out. How far can the US go in reshoring critical industries––and will blending state power with private capital strengthen or distort the markets it is trying to save?​
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Doug Beck, Director, Defense Innovation Unit, 2023-2025; Vice President, Apple, 2009-2023
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Elisabeth Reynolds, Special Assistant to the President for Manufacturing and Economic Development, 2021-22
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Nadia Schadlow, Deputy White House National Security Advisor for Strategy, 2017-18
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Joe Stockunas, President, SEMI Americas
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Brooke Harlow, Chief Global Affairs Officer, Balyasny Asset Management
4:20-4:50pm
BREAK
4:50-5:40pm
De-Risky Business: Uncoupling from Uncle Sam
Earlier this year, many around the world forecast that a new global order was on the horizon. Yet, events since then have reinforced America’s centrality. How will key US allies and strategic partners navigate their relationships with the United States, and with each other?​
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Robin Brooks, Former Managing Director, Institute for International Finance; Former Chief FX Strategist, Goldman Sachs; Senior Fellow, Brookings Institution
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H.E. Dr. Suriya Chindawongse, Thai Ambassador to the United States; Thai Ambassador to the United Nations, 2021-24
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Amb. Gerónimo Gutiérrez Fernández, Mexican Ambassador to the United States, 2017-18; Managing Director, North American Development Bank, 2010-16
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KT zu Guttenberg, Former German Minister of Defense and Economics
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Jonathan Hausman, Chief Strategy Officer, Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan
5:45-6:30pm
Testing the Trifecta: 2026 Midterm Preview
The US midterm elections are over a year out, but campaign preseason is well under way. Will Democrats find their way back from the wilderness, or will we see another two years of a Republican trifecta?​
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Sam Cornale, CEO and Executive Director, Democratic National Committee, 2021-25
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Mike Reed, Chief of Staff, Republican National Committee, 2022-24
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David Shor, Leading Democratic Pollster; Founder, Blue Rose Research
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Kristen Soltis Anderson, Leading GOP Pollster; Co-Founder, Echelon Insights
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Evan Pressman, Managing Partner, Ergo
6:30-7:30pm
Reception and Closing Remarks
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H.R. McMaster, US National Security Advisor, 2017-18; Chair, Ergo Flashpoints Forum
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R.P. Eddy, CEO, Ergo
2025 Partners
Attendees
The Global Flashpoints Roundtable is an invitation-only event that is limited to senior executives from the world’s largest and most influential corporations, hedge funds, private equity firms, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds. Attendees of previous Roundtables represent over $10T in market cap and over $7.7T in AUM.






















